When Kevin Fink founded Pullman Market, he brought more than a dash of Tucson flavor and spice to the restaurant known as Mezquite.
He brought Sonoran-style cooking, grilled meats and storytelling. He brought the best of his childhood from Tucson, the first U.S. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
Though known for his work in Austin, Fink spends considerable time shaping the dining culture in San Antonio, the second U.S. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
Part of his focus centers on Mezquite, which produces some of the best flour tortillas in town. Not the fluffy Tex-Mex kind. The paper-thin, translucent, chewy kind. The kind he grew up on in Tucson.
Mezquite makes its tortillas using beef tallow and pork lard from whole animals butchered on-site.
“There’s a flavor and texture to that that we’re really proud of,” said Fink, CEO of Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group, which owns multiple restaurants in Austin and San Antonio. “The tortillas are different from what is normal in our culture in San Antonio today.”
Fink is more than a chief executive. He’s a James Beard-nominated chef, an astute businessman and a hands-on leader who not infrequently joins the line in Mezquite’s kitchen.
“I’ve never seen a CEO do that before,” said Mezquite chef de cuisine Max Muñoz. “But Kevin’s jumped on the grill and helped us on expo on multiple occasions.”
Fink’s leadership, vision and team enabled Mezquite to earn a Michelin Bib Gourmand one year after it opened.
From the Michelin Guide: “In a city brimming with Mexican restaurants, Mezquite zigs while others zag. Don’t expect the typical Tex-Mex here. Instead, this restaurant in Pullman Market with a sun-bleached, desert-inspired decor spotlights hyper-regional Sonoran cooking.”
Mezquite zigs with a multi-course Norteño tasting menu that showcases yellowfin ceviche, roasted cauliflower, frijoles rancheros, fried panela cheese, a dry-aged, bone-in pork chop, tortillas with butter and honey and tres leches.
Mezquite zags with wood-fire meats over stews. The best-selling item is carne asada, served in tacos at the Mezcalaria bar or as a dinner entree “caramelo”: thinly-sliced, heavily charred beef with queso Oaxaca and salsa verde.
Where does the beef come from?
Chefs visit nearby ranches and build relationships. Ranchers deliver animals to the restaurant butchers.
“We grill it, we char it and we let the animal, that product, speak for itself,” Muñoz said. “Anything we put carne asada on, that’s what people want. It’s just an incredibly tender, juicy kind of steak. And we don’t shy away from utilizing the fire. It’s our namesake, ‘Mezquite.’”
The menu also features ceviches, oysters, swordfish, tuna and shrimp. Mezquite sources fresh catches from small boat fishermen through Minamoto Seafood.
“The magic is really that we have these relationships with purveyors, farmers, fishermen, ranchers and it truly gives us the opportunity to only work with the best product,” Muñoz said. “That is the difference.”
From his rental in the historic King William District, Fink heads to Pullman Market often and frequently dines at Mezquite, sometimes alone, sometimes with his family. He offers insight, advice and suggestions to a team he assembled less than three years ago.
Muñoz grew up on Sonoran cooking in El Paso and worked at Tokyo Cowboy and Best Quality Daughter before landing at Mezquite. Executive sous chef Guillermo “Memo” Navarrete hails from Mexico City and brings experience from Pujol, the capital’s two-star Michelin restaurant.
Ian Corral worked in a bakery in Chihuahua, Mexico and served as Mezquite’s original chef de cuisine before transitioning to director of operations.
Fink collaborated with this team to develop the menu at Mezquite, a menu that continues to evolve. “Kevin,” Muñoz said, “is brilliant at finding the chefs to execute his visions.”
The vision extends to the Mezcalaria bar. While the dining room opens at 5 p.m., the Mezcalaria offers cocktails, wine, beer and bar bites from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The bar remains open until midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Fink’s favorite bar bites are the carne asada burrito and the fish tacos.
“All I want is more celebrations and birthdays and casual lunches and happy hours,” Fink said. “A great restaurant calls to you often and you want to be part of that life more and more. We’re happy more people are choosing to enjoy that with us.
“There are so many great Mexican restaurants in San Antonio. I’m honored to be amongst them. And I hope to be around for 50 years and for generations to have eaten our food.”
